Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB508 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R3477 KJE-D
2	2	By: Miles S.B. No. 508
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the development of a statewide online education and
8	8	career advising tool and the establishment of a grant program to
9	9	reimburse private employers for paid internships provided to
10	10	certain public school students in career and technology education
11	11	programs.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 28, Education Code, is
14	14	amended by adding Section 28.0092 to read as follows:
15	15	Sec. 28.0092. ONLINE EDUCATION AND CAREER ADVISING TOOL.
16	16	(a) In this section, "institution of higher education" has the
17	17	meaning assigned by Section 61.003.
18	18	(b) Subject to the availability of federal funding for this
19	19	purpose, the agency shall develop and implement a statewide online
20	20	education and career advising tool to assist children in making
21	21	informed, meaningful, and attainable postsecondary and career
22	22	plans.
23	23	(c) The online education and career advising tool must
24	24	include:
25	25	(1) an individualized career pathway generator that
26	26	assists a child in selecting a career and identifying the secondary
27	27	and postsecondary courses the child should take to advance toward
28	28	that career; and
29	29	(2) information regarding:
30	30	(A) any local, regional, or statewide
31	31	articulation agreements regarding dual credit programs or the
32	32	transfer of course credit between institutions of higher education;
33	33	(B) the postsecondary and career options
34	34	associated with each endorsement under Section 28.025(c-1),
35	35	including the dual credit courses related to each endorsement that
36	36	apply toward a certificate or degree program at an institution of
37	37	higher education;
38	38	(C) any stackable degree programs provided by an
39	39	institution of higher education through which a student may obtain
40	40	a series of credentials as the student progresses through the
41	41	program;
42	42	(D) existing and anticipated employment
43	43	opportunities statewide and in a child's community, aligned to
44	44	state and regional workforce needs;
45	45	(E) anticipated earnings in various careers;
46	46	(F) local, regional, and statewide career
47	47	training and certification programs, including the requirements,
48	48	costs, and available options for those programs; and
49	49	(G) the time and cost required for and other
50	50	expenses related to various postsecondary and career options.
51	51	(d) In developing and implementing the online education and
52	52	career advising tool, the agency shall consult with the Texas
53	53	Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Workforce
54	54	Commission. On request by the agency, the coordinating board and
55	55	the commission shall provide to the agency any data maintained by
56	56	the coordinating board or commission that is necessary to develop
57	57	the tool.
58	58	SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
59	59	amended by adding Section 29.194 to read as follows:
60	60	Sec. 29.194. GRANT PROGRAM FOR PAID INTERNSHIPS. (a) To
61	61	encourage private entities to participate in providing career and
62	62	technology education to assist public school students in developing
63	63	the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary for a broad range
64	64	of career opportunities, the commissioner shall establish a
65	65	competitive grant program under which grants are awarded to school
66	66	districts and open-enrollment charter schools for the
67	67	reimbursement of private entities for all or part of the cost of
68	68	providing a paid internship or similar program to a student
69	69	participating in a career and technology education program in the
70	70	district or school.
71	71	(b) In awarding grants under this section, the commissioner
72	72	shall give preference to school districts and open-enrollment
73	73	charter schools that, as determined by the commissioner:
74	74	(1) have a high percentage of students who fail to
75	75	perform satisfactorily on relevant state assessments; and
76	76	(2) serve economically disadvantaged neighborhoods.
77	77	(c) To be eligible to receive reimbursement under the grant
78	78	program, a paid internship or similar program must:
79	79	(1) satisfy a curriculum requirement for an
80	80	endorsement adopted by rule under Section 28.025(c-1), or qualify
81	81	as a dual credit course; and
82	82	(2) pay the student at least the minimum wage required
83	83	by law.
84	84	(d) The total amount of grants awarded under this section
85	85	may not exceed $5 million in a state fiscal biennium. A grant
86	86	awarded to a school district or open-enrollment charter school may
87	87	not exceed the lesser of:
88	88	(1) $1 million in a state fiscal biennium; or
89	89	(2) an amount determined by the commissioner not to
90	90	exceed $2,500 for each participating student enrolled in the
91	91	district or school in the school year in which the grant is awarded.
92	92	(e) A grant awarded to a school district or open-enrollment
93	93	charter school may only be used to reimburse a private entity for
94	94	all or part of the cost of providing an eligible paid internship or
95	95	similar program to a student participating in a career and
96	96	technology education program in the district or school. A private
97	97	entity may not receive reimbursement under this section for
98	98	providing a paid internship or similar program to a student who is
99	99	related to the owner of the entity within the third degree of
100	100	consanguinity as determined under Subchapter B, Chapter 573,
101	101	Government Code.
102	102	(f) Not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year,
103	103	the commissioner, in cooperation with the Texas Workforce
104	104	Commission, shall submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor,
105	105	and the legislature a report on the effectiveness of the grant
106	106	program in creating jobs. The report must include, to the extent
107	107	available:
108	108	(1) the total number of paid internships or similar
109	109	programs for which a private entity received reimbursement through
110	110	a grant awarded under this section and the total amount of money
111	111	reimbursed for those internships or programs through a grant;
112	112	(2) the total number of students who completed a paid
113	113	internship or similar program described by Subdivision (1) and were
114	114	subsequently hired for a permanent job in this state by the private
115	115	entity that offered the internship or program;
116	116	(3) for the permanent jobs described by Subdivision
117	117	(2):
118	118	(A) the median wage of those jobs;
119	119	(B) the North American Industry Classification
120	120	System classification of each of those jobs; and
121	121	(C) the number of those jobs that provide health
122	122	benefits coverage;
123	123	(4) the number of private entities that offered a paid
124	124	internship or similar program described by Subdivision (1) that are
125	125	historically underutilized businesses, as defined by Section
126	126	2161.001, Government Code, and the total amount of money reimbursed
127	127	through a grant awarded under the grant program for the internship
128	128	or program;
129	129	(5) demographic information on students participating
130	130	in paid internships or similar programs described by Subdivision
131	131	(1), including the school districts or open-enrollment charter
132	132	schools in which the students are enrolled, to the extent allowed
133	133	under state and federal law; and
134	134	(6) an assessment of the number of eligible paid
135	135	internships or similar programs that would not have been offered in
136	136	the absence of a reimbursement provided through a grant and the
137	137	total number of students who completed those internships or
138	138	programs, including for each school year in which grants are
139	139	awarded, an estimate of the number of public high school students of
140	140	legal working age who were employed in this state for any period of
141	141	time during that school year outside of a paid internship or similar
142	142	program described by Subdivision (1).
143	143	(g) The commissioner, in consultation with the Texas
144	144	Workforce Commission, shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
145	145	this section.
146	146	SECTION 3. Section 42.005, Education Code, is amended by
147	147	adding Subsection (g-2) to read as follows:
148	148	(g-2) The time during which a student participates in a paid
149	149	internship or similar program that is funded in whole or in part
150	150	through a grant awarded under the grant program established by
151	151	Section 29.194 shall be counted as part of the minimum number of
152	152	instructional hours required for a student to be considered a
153	153	full-time student in average daily attendance for purposes of this
154	154	section.
155	155	SECTION 4. Section 29.194, Education Code, as added by this
156	156	Act, applies beginning with the 2019-2020 school year.
157	157	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
158	158	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
159	159	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
160	160	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
161	161	Act takes effect September 1, 2019.